Patriots target defense in first round

The Patriots moved up to get versatile pass-rush specialist Chandler Jones of Syracuse and inside linebacker Dont'a Hightower.

JONATHAN COMEY

For the majority of the Bill Belichick era, New England has been able to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, force mistakes and get sacks.

This success came despite the Patriots having gone the majority of the decade without investing in the front seven on draft day. But after two seasons of diminishing returns from the defensive front, the Patriots moved up — twice! — in the first round to get versatile pass-rush specialist Chandler Jones of Syracuse and inside linebacker Dont'a Hightower.

At 6-5 and 266 pounds, Jones is very similar to last year's starters, Mark Anderson and Andre Carter. Whether they were playing a 3-4 or 4-3 front, that duo found huge success in New England last year, and Jones in a best-case scenario is a younger, more talented version (Anderson is now a Buffalo Bill, and Carter is unsigned).

Jones wasn't particularly productive at Syracuse, finishing with just 10 sacks in 32 career games, but had a big junior year that earned him a spot on the All Big East team. He had 39 tackles and 4½ sacks last year in just seven games (he missed the start of the season with a knee injury). ESPN Draft guru Mel Kiper said the injury dropped Jones from top-10 consideration.

Hightower is a different story, a hugely productive player at Alabama that struggled through a knee injury in his career and could have questions about durability.

But, like Jones, Hightower is supposed to be an easy fit in a 3-4 defense, as an outside guy, or inside in a 4-3 look. Clearly, Belichick liked the idea of playing different looks up front last year — even if the results weren't exactly what he wanted.

Actually, Hightower made a bit of a rookie mistake in his interview with ESPN Radio, saying "it looks that way" when asked if he was told that the Patriots will be going back to a 3-4.

"I'll probably be playing inside linebacker for the first two (downs), then maybe get after the quarterback on third down, which is what I really love to do," he said.

Having played in a similar style of defense under Nick Saban at Alabama, Hightower made reference to there being little difference in Belichick's approach.

"It wasn't a big surprise that I ended up with New England," Hightower said.

The two moves up were a departure from the recent patterns of New England trading down, although this draft was described as a "buyer's market."

The Patriots gave up their third- and fourth-round picks in deals with Cincinnati and Denver, and now have no picks past their two second-rounders (48th and 62nd overall); the second and third round of the draft will be televised tonight.

Belichick, armed with his usual draft-day smirk, talked with NFL Network before the draft festivities started and stated his intentions in the most basic terms possible.

"When it comes time to pick, we'll do what we usually do: look at the board, try to take the players that we think are best for our football team, or if we think there's another option that we feel benefits us in terms of a trade, that's always a possibility too. We'll handle the first round the same as we'll handle any other picks."

Scoop!

And yet, even though his pre-draft proclamation sounded like generic coachspeak, Belichick did exactly what he said he'd do. He used his options, and did with them what he felt was best. Obviously feeling like quality was more important than quantity this year, after several deep drafts, the Patriots have added to a defense that needed it and left themselves two more high picks to add blue-chip talent.

It was a very Belichick-ian draft overall, with a series of small trade-downs throughout the first round — by the time it was done, only 17 of the 32 first-round picks were made by the team that originally held the spot.

Andrew Luck (Indianapolis) and Robert Griffin (Washington) went 1-2, and have the potential to develop a bit of a Magic vs. Bird thing as NFL quarterbacks. They're certainly two of the most-hyped rookies to enter any pro league together; time will tell if they live up to the billing.

The other big names went to Cleveland at No. 3 (running back Trent Richardson), Jacksonville at No. 5 (wide receiver Justin Blackmon) and Dallas at No. 6 (Morris Claiborne of LSU). In all three cases, a trade-up was required.